I was going downward
into the box canyon,
meandering
toward the ancient-ruins.

Floating along
in a dream-state,
I was lost in another world,
heading to a secret place
time had forgotten
when I passed her
scuttling upward,
carrying
a heavy basket
on her crooked back.

The grizzled lines
on her brown face
ran crisscross,
deep furrows of anguish
to match her
toothless-grimace.
They told me things
most people would
never understand.

Her angry eyes
were dark sparks,
they burned holes
into my heart
I will never forget.